ISAS Working Paper No. 53 – Date: 14 November 2008 469A Bukit Timah Road #07-01,Tower Block, Singapore 259770 Tel: 6516 6179 / 6516 4239 Fax: 6776 7505 / 6314 5447 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.isas.nus.edu.sg India and the World – Economics and Politics of the Manmohan Singh Doctrine in Foreign Policy Sanjaya Baru* Executive Summary Apart from the diplomacy around the negotiation of the civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement between India, the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), and the United States, the other foreign policy pre-occupations of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have been the diplomacy associated with the building of an East Asian Community; the revitalisation of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), with a focus on normalising relations with Pakistan; and increased South-South cooperation, with a focus on development cooperation in Africa. Economic issues have been at the core of each of these initiatives. Singh’s primary objective has been to improve the global and regional environment for sustaining India’s growth process and overall development. In an early comment on Singh’s foreign policy initiatives, C. Raja Mohan outlined four elements of what he dubbed as the Manmohan Singh Doctrine. These four elements are: (a) the changing weight of India in the global economy as a factor shaping its weight in global affairs; (b) recognition of the new opportunities available to India, as a consequence of its economic growth and openness, to improve relations with all major powers; (c) positive impact of a new approach to the developing world, based on India’s economic globalisation, on regional integration in South Asia and bilateral relations with neighbours; and (d) the recognition that as an open society and an open economy India can build bridges with the world on the foundations of its democratic, liberal, plural and secular credentials.